


River ways

by thisonetraveler



Category: The Prince of Egypt (1998)
Genre: Family, Family Dynamics, Gen, Loss, Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-07
Updated: 2018-09-07
Packaged: 2019-07-05 15:23:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15866361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisonetraveler/pseuds/thisonetraveler
Summary: A sketch; an old drabble-ish, actually (drafted between 2016-2017), and a sequel of sorts to“But now gone."Takes place at the end of "Deliver Us" and is partly an attempt to work out how, in the film's canon, Miriam would have followed Moses in the basket.  A family's emotions upon experiencing a heavy loss.





	River ways

Yocheved and Aaron do not go home that morning, not right away.

Instead, they watch Miriam disappear into the rushes, and they wait; Yocheved holding her son tightly in prayerful silence, occasionally combing her fingers through his unruly hair.

Their uneasiness is shared: One child, one sibling, has gone, and behind him, another.  Before departing, Miriam had exchanged a look with Yocheved, who had inclined her head.

 

They wait for Miriam to come back.  Forever passes before she returns.  When she does, she pushes through the reeds, and folds, exhausted and muddy, to the ground beside her family.  Her eyes are bright, brows knit.

“He is safe!”

Upon hearing these words, Yocheved loosens her grasp on Aaron, but keeps an arm looped around him, and she reaches forward to gather her daughter into a full embrace.  She gives a cry and then _cries_ , Miriam alongside her.  Yet, they’re smiling, too.  Caught edgeways in this hug, Aaron hesitates, concerned, unsure himself whether to mirror their tears or their smiles.  He knows that Miriam is here, though, even if their brother can’t be, and so he throws his arms around his mother first and then around his sister, resting a cheek against her shoulder.  She twists to the side to hug him, pressing her lips to the top of his head.  Saying again, “He’s safe.”

**Author's Note:**

> This probably doesn't capture enough emotion or enough of the situation, but... I was finding it really difficult to write about something that hits so close to home, as well as try to convey/balance the complexity of it all (grief, hope, trauma, worry, relief, love, etc.).  So, there's an intentional "tip of the iceberg," or "open," kind of feel.  For example, I wrote/interpret Yocheved's and Miriam's smiles as part shock, part release of adrenaline, part relief, etc. (a mess of emotions, basically), but people are of course welcome to read into this in other ways... I know I still do!
> 
> Aaron is four, or three.  Miriam is about six or seven.
> 
> [Story edits on Sept. 9: working out some of the (grammar) knots.]


End file.
